A dessert fit for Matariki: Christall Lowe's Kūmara and Apple Pudding

When I was a kid my Nana’s burnt sugar steamed pudding graced every festive family table. The rich aroma of burnt sugar in the pudding batter being steamed in the big pot all day is ingrained in my memory, almost like it’s part of my ‘kai DNA’. Perhaps that’s why I’m quite partial to (or near obsessed with) all things caramel, and when I’m tasked with creating a nostalgic recipe my immediate reaction is – caramel. Toffee. Burnt sugar. Golden syrup! Chocolate just doesn’t elicit the same, mouth-watering response. 

As I considered how we would celebrate Matariki this year, a year on from my dear Koro’s passing, and also in memory of my Nana, I felt compelled to honour them by remembering their ways with kai, their manaakitanga (hospitality and generosity), and by setting our table with some of their things – the floral tablecloth, the crown lynn plates, and native greenery from the trees at the homestead. A fitting way to honour their legacy, and to celebrate this season of Matariki – a time to remember our loved ones, to celebrate and acknowledge the successes of the year passed, and an opportunity to reset as we look ahead to the new year. 

I’ve gathered together some of the years’ harvest in this delicious, warming recipe, with the earthiness of kūmara, walnuts and the sweetness of apple coming together in a golden syrup cake, reminiscent of Nana’s steamed pudding. Served warm with cream, ice cream or custard, and more caramel sauce (obviously), it also comes with hints of nostalgia, and tales of childhood.    

Christall Lowe's Kūmara and Apple Sticky Toffee Pudding 

Serves 8 (generously) 

Ingredients

For the topping:

• 3 apples
• ½ cup walnuts, finely chopped (optional)
• 3 tbsp butter, melted
• ⅓ cup brown sugar, firmly packed

For the cake:

• 175g butter
• ¾ cup golden syrup
• ¾ cup brown sugar, firmly packed
• 1 ½ cups plain flour
• 1 cup wholemeal flour
• 1 ½ tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp mixed spice
• 2 cups peeled, grated orange kūmara (approx. 2 medium)
• 3 large eggs, whisked
• ¼ cup milk

For the caramel sauce:

• 75g butter
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 3 tbsp golden syrup
• ½ cup cream
• ½ tsp salt

Method

Preheat the oven to 160°C. Grease a 24cm round springform cake tin and line the base with baking paper.

Cut the apples in half, remove the cores, and slice thinly.

Drizzle the melted butter over the lined base of the cake tin, and sprinkle evenly with the brown sugar and half of the walnuts. 

Arrange half of the sliced apple over the brown sugar and walnuts – I like to create multiple ‘fans’ of about five slices of overlapping apple. Sprinkle with the remaining walnuts, and add another layer of apple slices.

Add the butter, golden syrup and brown sugar to a small saucepan and cook over a medium heat until butter has melted and sugar has dissolved. Leave to cool for 10 minutes. 

In a large mixing bowl whisk together the flours, baking powder, baking soda and mixed spice. 

When the butter mixture has cooled a little, add to the dry ingredients along with the grated kūmara, whisked eggs and milk. Use a large spoon to mix until combined.

Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin, being careful not to disturb the apples.

Place the cake tin on a rimmed baking tray, just in case liquid from cooking the apples leaks through the joins in the tin. 

Bake for 1 hour, or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. 

Leave to cool in the cake tin for 10 minutes before carefully removing the sides, and upturning the cake onto a serving plate. Remove the base of the tin and baking paper from the upturned cake to reveal the apple and walnut topping. Drizzle over some of the caramel sauce.

Serve warm with cream, ice cream or custard, and more caramel sauce!

While the cake is cooking, make the caramel sauce: Stir the butter, brown sugar, golden syrup and cream in a saucepan over a low heat until the sugar has dissolved. Turn heat up to medium, and cook for 2-3 minutes until thick and syrupy. Add the salt and stir to combine.

For extra glorious pizazz – place some more caramelised apple slices on top of the cake. To make, simply add 1 knob of butter and 1 teaspoon of brown sugar for every five apple slices to a hot frying pan over a medium heat. Lay fans of overlapping apple in the frying pan over the sugar, cover with a lid, and cook for 3–4 minutes or until the apples are soft, and caramelised underneath. Using a spatula, remove the apple slices from the pan and place on top of the cake, caramelised side up. 

 

Christall Lowe (Ngāti Kauwhata, Tainui, Ngāti Maniapoto) is a food stylist and photographer in the Manawatu. Her first book, Kai: Food Stories and Recipes from my Family Table, won the Judith Binney Prize for Illustrated Non-Fiction at the 2023 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards.